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Amendment 69 Jessamine is dying- And her husband is dying with her.

Jessamine (“Miss J” as she’s fondly called) has been a fixture in our neighborhood for years. She and her husband have been married for 50 years and together almost that long. On most evenings, their porch is a neighborhood social hub. People come by to chat, catch up on neighborhood news and relax. Miss J, long retired, is often out on the porch during the day watching the world go by and keeping an eye on things. We regard her as the unofficial mayor of the neighborhood.

Her husband is a Vietnam veteran still working full-time as a local truck driver well past the age of retirement. They are not affluent. They own their home and half a dozen cars of which no more than two are likely running at any one time. They are good, solid working class folks and probably the best neighbors I’ve had.

Miss J’s health has not been good. She needed heart bypass surgery a few years back and had problems with congestive heart failure. She also has emphysema. Over the winter, I didn’t see much of her. When I did see her, I noticed that her breath was short and her face looked puffy. She told me the emphysema was getting worse and she was on prednisone and home oxygen. She appeared to be wasting away. Soon she was in the hospital for her breathing and congestive heart failure. She made it home briefly but was frequently back in the hospital. This last time, she’s not made it back home. Her heart stopped twice and she’s on dialysis now. She’s bouncing between a rehab facility and the hospital. She may get back home but will require around-the-clock skilled care.

These are not wealthy people. They are what economists would consider “working poor.” But they are the bedrock of the United States: hard working decent people who don’t want handouts, have served their country, and are good for their community. And they are being destroyed by the healthcare system. She will die in the not too distant future. And as hard as it is for her husband to have to deal with his wife’s terminal illness, he must also deal with the financial catastrophe that will haunt and encumber him for the remainder of his days.

Their out-of-pocket and uncovered expenses have already drained what financial reserves they had. (He has VA benefits, but they don’t apply to her. Miss J’s on Medicare without a supplemental plan.) He said, “J goes to dialysis from the care place three times a week. The medical van is $65 each trip. That’s almost $200 a week right there. I know I could have driven her over there, but I can’t miss work. Then I’ve got no money coming in. Just the cost of the trips to dialysis alone plus our regular bills take all my money. And that doesn’t even get into what we owe the hospital and rehab facility or what it’s going to cost to have someone help me take care of her if she comes home. I’m broke and I owe these people so much money that I’ll die broke, doc.”

And this is the reality of our healthcare system. Not only will Miss J die, but her terminal illness will leave her widowed husband in financial ruin. What option does he have? Say no to dialysis? Just bring her home and let her die? He’s faced with the choice of being either financially or morally bankrupt. And no one should have to make that choice.

And so as Miss J dies a little every day, her husband does too, faced with both a life without his wife and insurmountable debt and financial hopelessness. Welcome to healthcare in America.

This broken “system” causes incredible suffering and needs to change. Coloradans have a chance in November to help everyone in the state get the healthcare they need. Vote yes on Amendment 69, ColoradoCare, and lead the U.S. toward a better future for all.

Michael Jones, MD has practiced medicine for 25 years. He’s an advocate for single-payer healthcare and believes that passing ColoradoCare, Amendment 69, could lead the U.S. toward a more sane and just healthcare system that would control costs and cover everyone.